The way people work has also changed; employees connect from coffee shops and airport lounges, instead of just the office.

Now, organisations must rely on the Internet to connect users to business-­critical applications.

This has resulted in a new Cloud Edge – the intersection of networking and security.

Until now, SD-­WAN solutions have forced IT to choose between application experience or security.

By evolving its SD­-WAN portfolio, Cisco is aiming to address the new realities of the Cloud Edge.

Cisco SD­-WAN can help IT deliver better application experiences and make users more productive with unmatched simplicity and scale.

And now, security can be easily enabled anywhere it is needed, from the branch to the cloud.

“The emergence of the new Cloud Edge is disrupting our customers’ network and security architectures. Today, every WAN device must become software-defined and secure,” said Cisco enterprise networking senior vice president and general manager Scott Harrell.

“Cisco’s SD­-WAN makes it easy for customers to get the very best of networking and security. We are building a bridge to a new business world that speeds our customers’ ability to unlock the power of the cloud — faster with less risk.”

Cisco SD­-WAN aims to address today’s most pressing issues, yet be flexible enough to tackle the challenges of tomorrow.

New features include:

Fusing security with SD-­WAN : From application-­aware enterprise firewall and intrusion prevention, to URL filtering, security is now integrated into Cisco SD­-WAN devices and managed through a single pane of glass. Cisco SD­-WAN is all powered by cyber threat intelligence solution Talos.

Simplifying cloud security deployments: By integrating Cisco SD­-WAN with Cisco Umbrella, access to malicious destinations can be blocked before a connection is ever established.

Applications experience: Cisco has partnered with Microsoft to enhance the Office 365 application experience for users. Unlike other vendors, Cisco SD­-WAN monitors in real­-time all available paths to the Microsoft Office 365 cloud. Using Microsoft Office URLs, Cisco is also able to determine the closest cloud, resulting in up to 40 percent faster performance for users.

Open and programmable: With open APIs, Cisco SD­-WAN provides service providers and partners the opportunity to create unique new services. To help developers and network engineers innovate, Cisco DevNet has created new SD­-WAN learning labs and sandboxes.

New SD-­WAN infrastructure: With an SD­-WAN portfolio powered by Viptela and Meraki, Cisco is offering even more options for customers with two new Integrated Services Routers (ISR) designed for small and large branch offices.